28 February 2017

Look at these beautiful houses, a nice warm community Of Torah *Jews, now torn apart by eviction and destruction.

This is an odd photo: All the Blue Shirts (as opposed to Brown Shirts) reminds one of all those Blue States and their sick leftist ideology.

This is another strange photo. If you squint, it resembles the Nazis entering a town to do “their work."

What is this guy wearing on his hands? A strange type of glove. Does it inflict harm?

Our hearts have been pierced once again, first it was Amona and now Ofra. Maybe Rabbi Richter is correct in his assessments in this video:.Rav Richter on the Reasons Behind Amona.)I first saw this on TomerDevorah: Expulsion From Amona.

The poor exiled Amona residents:“How can you, Benjamin Netanyahu… continue to roam the lounges of the world when here at home the communities…of citizens who voted for you are erased,” challenged the activists, referring to the series of trips abroad the prime minister has taken this month. Amona leaders launch hunger strike in front of PM’s residence.Are we next going to see exiled Ofra residents joining the exiled Amona residents on Rehov Aza protesting? How many more exiled Israelis will there be? Will there be enough room for them all to protest by the Prime Minister’s residence??

According to The Book of Formation (Sefer Yetzirah) Each month of the Jewish year has a corresponding color, a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a zodiac sign, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, a sense, and a controlling organ/limb of the body.Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar.The word Adar is cognate to the Hebrew “strength” (אדיר). Adar is the month of good fortune for the Jewish people. The sages say of Adar: “Its mazal [fortune] is strong.”Purim, the holiday of Adar, commemorates the “metamorphosis” of the Jews’ apparent bad fortune (as it appeared to Haman) to good. “When Adar enters we augment with joy.” The festival of Purim marks the high point in the joy of the entire year. The Jewish year begins with the joy of the redemption of Pesach and concludes with the joy of the redemption of Purim. “Joy breaks through all barriers.”The joy of Adar is what makes the month of Adar the ”pregnant” month of the year (i.e., seven of the nineteen yearsin the cycle of the Jewish calender are “leap years,” “pregnant” with an additional month of Adar). When there are two Adars, Purim is celebrated in the second Adar, in order to link the redemption of Purim to the redemption of Pesach. Thus, we see that the secret of Adar and Purim is “the end is wedged in the beginning.”Letter: Kuf (ק)The letter kuf means “monkey” (קוף), the symbol of laughter of the month of Adar. In accordance with the idiom “as a monkey in the face of man,” the kuf also symbolizes masquerade, an accepted custom of Purim. Before the miracle of Purim, God Himself “hid His face” from His children Israel (in the entire story of Purim, as related in the book of Esther, His Name does not appear even once). By initially hiding one’s true identity, pretending to be someone else, the innermost essence of one’s true self becomes revealed. On Purim, we reach the level of the “unknowable head” (“the head that does not know itself nor is known to others”), the state of total existential hiddeness of self from self, for the sake of “giving birth” to one’s ultimate self anew.The word kuf also means the “eye of a needle.” The sages teach us that even in the most irrational dream one cannot see an elephant passing through the eye of a needle (see here for more on this teaching). Yet, on Purim one experiences this great wonder, which, in Kabbalah and Chassidut, symbolizes the truly infinite essence of God’s transcendent light entering into the finite context of physical reality and revealing itself in full to the Jewish soul.Mazal: Pisces (Fish)Fish are the creatures of the sea, which in Kabbalah is a symbol for the “concealed reality.” Likewise, the souls of Israel are likened to fish that swim in the waters of the Torah. The true identity and fortune of Israel is invisible in this world. The revelation of Purim, the revelation of Israel’s true identity, reflects the revelation of the World to Come (the miracle of Purim is understood to reflect in this world the ultimate miracle: the resurrection in the World to Come).The singular form for “fish” in Hebrew is דג. It represents the tikun, the rectification of worry; the three letter root of “to worry” is דאג (pronounced da’ag). In the Bible, the singular form of fish (דג) actually appears once written as the root, worry (דאג). The Bible relates that in the time of Nechemiah, certain unobservant Jews desecrated the holiness of the Shabbat by selling fish in the market of Jerusalem. But, their fish (דג) had turned into excessive “worry” (דאג) over earning a livelihood. In the opposite direction, the fish of the joy of Purim, the strong (though initially hidden, as fish) mazal of Adar, convert all the worry in the heart of man to the ultimate joy of redemption with the new birth of self from the “unknowable head.”Tribe: NaftaliIn Kabbalah, the name Naftali (נפתלי) is read (as two words) that mean “sweetness is to me” (נפת לי). The mitzvah on Purim to reach the level of the “unknowable head” by drinking wine etc., is expressed, in the words of our sages, as: “one is obligated on Purim to become sweet, until he is unable to differentiate between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai.'”This is the expression of joy and laughter at the level of Naftali, “sweetness to me.” Our patriarch Jacob blessed his son Naftali: “Naftali is a sent-off [messenger] deer, who gives [expresses] eloquent words.” The “eloquent words” of Naftali give rise to joy and laughter in the ears of all who hear. At the end of the Torah, Moses blessed Naftali: “The will of Naftali is satisfied….” In Chassidut it is explained that “satisfied will” (seva ratzon) refers to the level of will in the inner dimension of keter, where all experience is pure delight, the state of being that one wills nothing outside oneself.The three letters that compose the name Haman can be perumted in six ways. The gematria of Haman is 95, so the total value of all six permutations is 6 ∙ 95 = 570, the value of the word for “a wicked person” (רשע). Indeed, Haman is usually referred to as “Haman the wicked.” 570 is also the gematria of Naftali (נפתלי), who takes joy and laughs in playing the six permutation game of Haman. In Kabbalah, it is explained that the “eloquence” of Naftali reflects his wisdom to permute words in general, as well as to examine gematriot, the most “delightful game” (sha’ashu’a) of Torah study. Naftali would look at the numerical values of the famous phrase “Cursed is Haman, Blessed is Mordechai” and realize that the two halves both equal 502: “Cursed is Haman” (ארור המן) is equal to “Blessed is Mordechai” (ברוך מרדכי).As previously explained, the months of Tishrei and Cheshvan correspond (according to the Arizal) to the two tribes of Ephraim and Menasheh, the two sons of Joseph. Jacob blessed his two grandchildren Ephraim andMenashe to be like fish: “and they shall be like fish in the midst of the earth.” These two tribes (the beginning of the year from Tishrei) reflect themselves in Adar and Naftali (the end of the year from Nissan), for Adar divides into two (just as Joseph divides into two) fish (Ephraim and Menasheh). The numerical support for this is that when Ephraim (אפרים) , 331 and Menashe (מנשה), 395 combine with Naftali (נפתלי), 570 the sum is 1296 = 362 = 64.Sense: LaughterLaughter is the expression of unbounded joy, the joy which results from witnessing light issue from darkness–“the advantage of light from darkness”–as is the case with regard to the miracle of Purim. The epitome of laughter in the Torah is that of Sarah at the birth of Isaac (יצחק) whose name derives from the word for laughter (צחוק): “God made me laugh, whoever hears shall laugh with me.” Giving birth at the age of 90 (and Abraham at the age of 100), after being barren and physically unable to have children, is witnessing Divine light and miracle emerging from total darkness. The word in Hebrew for “barren” is composed of the same letters (in the same order) as the word for “darkness.” Purim (פורים) comes from the word meaning “be fruitful [and multiply]” (פרו). Of Isaac, the archetype personification of laughter in the Torah, it is said “the fear [source of awe, i.e. God] of Isaac.” This phrase can also be read as: “fear shall laugh”–the essence of fear shall metamorphize into the essence of laughter. In relation to Purim, the fear of (the decree of) Haman transforms into the exuberant laughter of the festival of Purim.Controller: SpleenOur sages explicitly state that, “the spleen laughs.” At first sight, this appears most paradoxical, for the spleen is considered the seat of the “black humor,” the source of all states of melancholy and despair. Just as we have described above, all of the phenomena of Adar and Purim are essentially paradoxical, for they all derive from the “unknowable head,” and they all represent states of existential transformation and metamorphosis. The “methodology” in Torah which “models” these phenomena is the wisdom of permutation, as described above. The letters of “black humor” (מרה שחורה), in Hebrew, permute to spell the words “happy thought” (הרהור שמח). This is the funniest joke of all!

27 February 2017

This started on the 1st of Adar, six weeks before the Exodus.[citation needed]

1 Adar (1164) - Death of the Ibn Ezra1 Adar (circa 1663) - Death of the Shach2 Adar (598 BCE) - Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar and Jeconiah is captured.3 Adar (515 BCE) - Second Temple completed4 Adar (1307) - Maharam's body ransomed 14 years after his death by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpfen.4 Adar (1796) - Death of Rabbi Leib Sarah's, a disciple of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. One of the "hidden tzaddikim," Rabbi Leib spent his life wandering from place to place to raise money for the ransoming of imprisoned Jews and the support of other hidden tzaddikim.5 Adar (1st century CE) - Lulianos and Pappos voluntarily gave themselves up to be killed, in order to save innocent Jewish lives in Laodicea.7 Adar (1393 BCE) - Birth of Moses7 Adar (1273 BCE) - Death of Moses7 Adar (1828) - Death of Rebbe Isaac Taub of Kalov, founder of the Kalover Hasidic dynasty, and a student of Rabbi Leib Sarah’s.9 Adar (1st century BCE) - Academic dissension between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, erupted into a violent and destructive conflict over a vote on 18 legal matters leading to the death of 3,000 students. The day was later declared a fast day by the Shulchan Aruch, however, it was never observed as such.11 Adar (18th century) - Death of Reb Eliezer Lipman (Elezer Lippe), father of the prominent Chassidic Rebbes Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and Rabbi Zusha of Hanipol.13 Adar (522 BCE) - War between Jews and their enemies in Persia (Book of Esther, chapter 9).13 Adar (161 BCE) - Yom Nicanor - The Maccabees defeated Syrian general Nicanor, in a battle fought four years after the Maccabees' liberation of the Holy Land and the miracle of Hanukkah.13 Adar (1895-1986) - Death of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein14 Adar (522 BCE) - Purim victory celebrated in the Persian Empire15 Adar (522 BCE) - Purim Victory Celebrated in Shushan15 Adar (1st century CE) - Jerusalem Gate Day - King Agrippa I (circa 21 CE) began construction of a gate for the wall of Jerusalem; the day used to be celebrated as a holiday.17 Adar (522 BCE) - Yom Adar - the day the Jewish people left Persia following the Purim story[citation needed]20 Adar (1st century BCE) - Choni the Circle Maker prays for rain (Talmud, Taanit 23a)20 Adar (1616 CE) - 'Purim Vinz': downfall of Vinzenz Fettmilch and triumphant return of the Jews of Frankfurt under Imperial protection. The day was established as a community Purim for generations and to this day the Washington Heights community does not recite Tachanun on this day.20 Adar (1640) - Death of the “Bach"21 Adar (Adar II, 1786) - Death of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk23 Adar (circa 1312 BCE) - Mishkan assembled for the first time; "Seven Days of Training" begin.23 Adar (1866) - Death of Yitzchak Meir Alter, first Rebbe of Ger24 Adar (1817) - The Blood Libel, the accusation that Jews murdered Christian children for their blood, declared false by Czar Alexander I. Nevertheless, nearly a hundred years later the accusation was officially leveled against Mendel Beilis in Kiev.25 Adar (561 BCE) - Death of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:31).25 Adar (1761) - Death of Rabbi Abraham Gershon of Kitov the brother-in-law and leading foe-turned-disciple of the Baal Shem Tov.27 Adar (561 BCE) - Death of Zedekiah in Babylonian captivity. Meroduch, Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, freed him (and his nephew Jeconiah) on the 27th of Adar, but Zedekiah died that same day.28 Adar (from the 2nd century onwards) - Talmudic holiday to commemorate the rescinding of a Roman decree against Torah study, ritual circumcision, and keeping the Shabbat. The decree was revoked through the efforts of Rabbi Yehudah ben Shamu'a and his colleagues. (Megillat Taanit, a baraita on this matter can still be found in Ta'anit 18a and Rosh Hashanah 19a)28 Adar (1524) - the Jews of Cairo were saved from the plot of Ahmad Pasha, who sought revenge against the Jewish minister Abraham de Castro who had informed Selim II of Ahmad's plan to cede from the Ottoman Empire. To this day, Adar 28th is considered the Purim of Cairo, with festivities including a special Megilah reading.

26 February 2017

The Book of Formation is an ancient Kabbalistic text attributed to Abraham and compiled in its final form by the Tannaic sage, Rabbi Akiva. It enumerates the twelve months of the Jewish calendar and explains that each corresponds to a Hebrew letter and a particular sense, or talent, which is controlled by a particular organ of the body.The month of Adar corresponds to the Hebrew letter ק (kof), its talent is laughter, and the organ that controls this talent is the spleen. Because the Jewish reckoning of months begins with the month of Nisan, in the Jewish year, Adar is considered the twelfth and final month. This means that laughter is the last of all human traits implying a well-known verse from the chapter on the woman of valor (Proverbs 31): "She laughs, awaiting the final days." After all the ups and downs of the entire year, we enter a month of healthy and cathartic laughter.Indeed, laughter has the power to turn all of the pain, misery, and difficulty of the past year into goodness and joy. At the end of the year, we find ourselves still standing, thank G‑d, and all of the fears that we harbored in our souls (lest so and so happen…) are transformed and sweetened by our laughter. This transformation is alluded to in one of G‑d's connotations: pachad yitzchak, "the Fear of Isaac," which literally means "fear will laugh!" This is the theme of Purim, the holiday that we celebrate in Adar. On Purim we celebrate how all the fears of Haman and his planned genocide of the Jewish people were overturned. The fear turned into laughter. This is why the motto of the month of Adar is "abound with joy." When there is but a little amount of joy, it tends to remain concealed in the heart. But when there is an abundance of joy, it overflows and is expressed as booming laughter.

A Sense of HumorBecause laughter is linked with the ability to turn things around, it is indeed the best medicine --an important ingredient for health. In fact, its healing potential is so great that it can cure even the most difficult of maladies. This link has been recognized since ancient times. In those times, medicine recognized four fluids or "humors" as conducting the various energies—psychological and physical—that determine the body's health: white phlegm was identified with the conduction of joy and spirited behavior, black humor was identified with melancholy and lethargic behavior, green humor was identified with cravings and obsessive behavior, and red humor (or blood) was identified with anger and energetic behavior.Each of the four humors was believed to have a particular controlling organ in the body. The organ controlling the melancholy and lethargic influence of the black humor was considered the spleen. Yet, as was noted above, in Kabbalah, the spleen is considered the controller of the sense of laughter, indicating that laughter has the power to not only modulate melancholy but, as is revealed in the month of Adar, to completely transform it into joy. In Hebrew, there is a beautiful allusion to this transformative quality of laughter, because the words שחורה מרה ("black humor") have the same exact letters as שמח הרהור ("happy thought").Seven times every nineteen years, we have two months of Adar on our calendar. The second Adar is in many respects like a second copy of the first Adar as it shares much of the same spiritual essence. Thus, laughter is not only transformative, it is indeed overflowing. Laughter is the only one of the 12 senses that can last an entire 60 days! So on years like the present, we have 60 days of laughter at the end of the year.What is the significance of the number 60? With respect to many laws regarding quantities (particularly dietary laws), the Torah prescribes that a 60:1 ratio is a nullifying ratio. Likewise, 60 days of laughter have the power to nullify and sweeten any bitter taste leftover in our mouths from the preceding year.Of Monkeys and ElephantsThe letter with which the month of Adar was created is ק, pronounced kof.First the elephant's trunk is threaded through the eyelet, then his head, followed by his entire huge body. What a strange thing to imagine!The literal meaning of the word kof in Hebrew is "monkey." This presents us with another beautiful connection between the month of Adar and laughter. The monkey is without a doubt one of the most entertaining animals and one of the few animals capable of actually smiling and laughing. The Baal Shem Tov once related that the snake strikes fear because it was created from the essence of fear. Likewise, based on this relationship between the monkey and the month of Adar, we can say that the monkey makes us laugh because it was created from the essence of laughter. Chassidic teachings make use of a parable describing a king whose melancholy spirit is lifted by the novelty of a speaking bird. We may surmise that what is uplifting about the bird is its novelty, but as soon as the novelty wears off, so does the birds ability to lift the king's spirit. But a monkey is able to amuse again and again because its essence is one of laughter.But, the word kof in Hebrew has a second meaning: "the eye of a needle." This second meaning ties our monkey with another wonderful and strange animal: the elephant. In their lengthy discussion of dreams in the ninth chapter of the Talmudic tractate Berachot, the sages provide us with what seems like a very strange example of something that a person cannot spontaneously see in a dream: an elephant being threaded through the eye of a needle. First the elephant's trunk is threaded through the eyelet, then his head, followed by his entire huge body. What a strange thing to imagine. How strange it would be to have such a dream! But, it is entirely possible that if a person concentrates on this strange image during the day, he may come to dream about it at night.All Things Great...How can we understand such an absurd image? Everything that the sages say has some meaning though this meaning is not always easy to understand. In this particular case we first have to know what the elephant represents.There is a beautiful midrash called Perek Shirah (usually translated as "The Song of Creation"). This midrash was written by Kind David after he finished writing Psalms and documents the various songs continually song in praise of the Creator by parts of nature like the sky, the earth, the ocean, rivers, etc., and different animals. The song of each creature describes its essence. Perek Shirah also describes the song of the elephant, which is: "How great Your actions are, G‑d!" (Psalms 92:6). The elephant is the biggest (or greatest) animal (on land) and this is a very fitting verse for it.But, the elephant's song reflects something deeper. In I Chronicles 29:11, the verse the sages explain to be enumerating the seven divine attributes (sefirot), the word "great" refers to the act of Creation itself. Thus, G‑d's greatness—G‑d's great acts that are the essence of what the elephant represents—is identified as His infinite capacity for creation that turns the nothingness into somethingness....and SmallNow let us go back and reinterpret the image of an elephant being threaded through the eye of a needle. Now that we know that the elephant represents G‑d's infinity revealed in His power of creation, it follows that the tiny eye of the needle represents G‑d's finite aspect. Threading the elephant through the eyelet therefore represents the embodiment of G‑d's infinity within His finite aspect. This is exactly what our world is: the enclothed reality of G‑d's infinity within finite physical objects.That people do not see such images in their dreams indicates that realizing this about our reality is so beyond the normal capacity of our minds that even when dreaming the impossible, this does not appear. Indeed, Chassidic teachings maintain that were a person to fully grasp how he is being created at this very moment something from nothing, that person would immediately return to nothingness. Nonetheless, by meditating on the image of the elephant being threaded through the eye of the needle, we can certainly come to the verge of grasping the reality of G‑d's infinity embodying into the limited reality of our physical world—eventually the image may even appear in our dreams.In modern physics, many elementary particles are considered to fluctuate into and out of reality at every momentThe notion of the needle's eye representing a miniscule, infinitely small passageway, through which reality is infused, is not foreign to modern physics. Indeed, in modern physics, many elementary particles are considered to fluctuate into and out of reality at every moment. Elementary particles are formed from the vacuum of space and then return into it a fleeting moment later. One has only to imagine that the same is true not only at the microscopic level but at the macroscopic level as well.This is the major tenet of Jewish mystical thought about creation: everything, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the biggest elephant, is continually moving back and forth from existence to non-existence. In this sense, the eye of the needle is not only the passageway but the essential residue which is always left over and from which everything returns into reality. The essential residue of a human being from which he or she will be recreated in the resurrection of the dead is called the "bone of luez." Amazingly, in Hebrew the words "bone of luez" (עצם הלוז) have the exact same המחט קוף ("the eye of the needle" ) and the numerical value, 248, which is also the numerical value of Abraham (אברהם). Indeed all of reality is considered to have been created through this number 248, which is hinted in Genesis 2:4, the verse beginning the second account of creation."Who can dictate to Him what He should do?"Chassidic philosophy speaks a great deal about the infinite and finite aspects of the Almighty and the interplay between them. One of the most important conclusions is that the finite aspect of G‑d, including our own limited physical reality, are dependent on G‑d's infinite aspect. How so? G‑d's infinite aspect is what makes it possible for Him to reveal His finite aspect in the first place, for thanks to G‑d's omnipotence He is capable of carrying the paradox of a reality that is at one and the same time "outside of Him" yet "part of Him." The most famous phrasing of this paradox is in the form of a question: "Can G‑d create a stone that He cannot lift?" The answer is a paradoxical "yes!" Paradoxical to us, but consistent within G‑d's infinite aspect where the two sides of a paradoxical statement can co-exist simultaneously without nullifying each other.On our side of the cosmic needle's eye, the "elephant" of infinity does not appearCarrying this conclusion over to the elephant and the eye of the needle, it follows that the very existence of the eye of the needle, which represents G‑d's finite aspect, originates in the elephant, which represents His infinite aspect. It is as if the elephant creates the eye of the needle and then jumps through it! But the elephant does not emerge from the other side. In other words, on our side of the cosmic needle's eye, we are not openly aware of G‑d's infinite aspect. Everything on our side of the needle's eye seems very limited and very well behaved, fitting within the confines of nature's laws (no elephants jumping through the eyes of a needle on this end!). This is so because the moment that the infinite aspect enters within the finite realm, it is concealed by the limited capacity of the finite realm.1Still, this is why the image of the elephant threaded through the eye of the needle (and not emerging on the other side) is so powerful. If one cannot come to dream this image, one can at least understand what it means and imagine it in the mind's eye. Imagining such images and their symbolic meaning facilitates the heart's being able to grasp that though G‑d's infinite aspect cannot be seen in a revealed manner in our physical realm, it is nonetheless present and not only present, but continually recreating our space. The heart then begins to experience G‑d's true and total omnipresence within and around everything.A good sense of humor and a lot of laughter are needed to discuss these topics using such seemingly absurd imagery, yet this is exactly the gift that the month of Adar gives us. The month of Adar's joy originates in our ability to transcend the contraction (or, the concealment) of G‑d's infinite presence and to see that everything is indeed within His total providence.FOOTNOTES1. In Chassidism, this is called the "source entering the space of the light," the source being G‑d's absolute infinite aspect (the ultimate source of His finite aspect) and the space of the light being the finite realm, represented by the eye of the needle.Source: Chabad

25 February 2017

The once Bizarre is now becoming normal. If that is the case, what will replace the Bizarre?

Have you noticed that clouds are lower today than in the past and it would seem they are continuing to lower. Also clouds are changing in structure and makeup. No longer can we just consider natural clouds but now we have artificial clouds.

24 February 2017

Two years ago, I wrote an article entitled “The Slave’s Ear,” in which I discussed the halacha pertaining to a Jewish slave who wishes to remain with his master after the seven-year period of servitude has elapsed. The law, as stated in this week’s Parsha, is as follows: “If the eved shall say, ‘I love my master, my (slave) wife and my (slave) children; I shall not go free,’ then his master shall bring him to the court and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore through his ear with the awl, and he shall serve him forever (meaning until his master’s death or the Yovel).” (Shemos 21:5-6)Another possuk states, “For the Children of Israel are servants to Me. They are My servants, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt, I am Hashem your G-d” (Vayikra 25:55) The Gemora elaborates: “Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai used to expound this verse like a jewel: How is the ear different from all [other] parts of the body? Said the Holy One Blessed is He, the ear heard My voice on Har Sinai at the moment that I said, ‘For unto Me the Children of Israel are servants and not the servants of servants,’ and [yet], this person has [disregarded that which the ear has heard and has] gone and bought a master for himself, [therefore] let [his ear] be pierced.“And Rabbi Shimon bar Rebbi used to expound this verse like a jewel: How are the door and the doorpost different from all [other] utensils in the house? Said the Holy One Blessed is He, the door and the doorpost were witnesses at the moment that I passed over the lintel and two doorposts [of Jewish homes in Egypt] and declared, ‘For unto Me the Children of Israel are servants and not the servants of servants,’ and then I delivered [the Jews] from slavery to freedom, and [yet], this [Jew] has [spurned My declaration that was witnessed by the door and doorpost, for he has] gone and bought a master for himself. [Therefore] let [his ear] be pierced in the presence of [the door and doorposts].” (Kiddushin 22b)I find it frightening to observe the number of people using cell phones on the street. We as a society are walking around semi-conscious, slaves to an electronic master. Some people walk around with metal devices attached to their ears so that they can be perpetually connected.Tonight I entered a large bais medrash where fathers were learning with their children. I saw many beautiful scenes, but I saw a few places where the child was learning, waiting for the father, and the father was so engrossed with his phone that his child was ignored. I was crying.My wife read about a child who asked his father for a cell phone for his seventh birthday. The father asked why. The child replied, “So I can text mommy.” I once stopped a lady wheeling a stroller and told her – I believe with respect – that she was ignoring her baby by speaking on the cell phone. I was perhaps unwise, but I was crying for her abandoned baby.As I said two years ago, we are awaiting Shofar Gadol, the moment when the world of Edom disintegrates and a new world, whose center is Har Habayis, bursts upon the earth like a blossom in springtime. We must listen for the Shofar, because, if we fail to hear it, then we may become confused and make wrong decisions, G-d forbid, at a time when our lives are on the line.Our entire survival has been based on adherence to the words, “Shema Yisroel.” We have to be able to listen, to hear! While other nations live in darkness and think that their survival is based on mundane calculations, we – lehavdil – have survived because we understand that our life is guided only by the will of the Master of the Universe.We say in the Shema that we are supposed to love Hashem with all our hearts, souls and resources, as we sit in our homes and “uv’lechtecha bederech … while we walk on the way.” Do we believe the words we are saying? How can we love Hashem with all our hearts as we walk on the derech if we are attached to an electronic master?How can we say “Shema” if we are not listening?You may think that I am unrealistic, that the world will never listen to my backward opinion.My friends, we do not see what is coming. Forces are at work which will overpower the entire world as we know it. Dovid Hamelech says, “Ki gavar aleinu chasdo … for His kindness has overwhelmed us.” (Tehillim 117) The word “gavar … overwhelmed” means that we cannot prevent it. Radak explains that this Chapter in Tehillim refers to the world after the advent of Moshiach. (Artscroll) The Redemption is coming and no one can stop it.We are about to enter Chodesh Adar, which contains a mighty Yom Tov called Purim. In Shushan Habira, there was a man named Mordechai, who refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Haman Harasha. Mordechai might have been dismissed as a hopeless innocent who was in mortal danger of being stepped on by the mighty ruler. But Mordechai clung to the G-d of Israel “with all his heart and all his soul and all his resources.” As a result, the mighty ruler, along with his murderous plans, was toppled against all odds, “v'nehefach hu.” “It turned for them … from sorrow to gladness, from mourning to festival.” (Megillah 9:22)Our upside down world is also about to flip. Gashmius will land on the bottom and ruchnius on top. At that time, we will need to hear Hashem’s Voice, which is calling out to us right now in the darkness: “Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokainu, Hashem Echad!”

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Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

23 February 2017

Meir Ettinger has been served with a new administrative order, two months before the existing one is due to expire. Now they have added to the order that he is forbidden from teaching Torah. This outrage cannot continue. Please share this post and we must organize a chain of outrage that reaches to the highest levels of this government.

"Here the Kol Hayehudi article in English:(Since it's my translation, any errors are also mine.)A Shabak [Israel’s internal security agency; similar to the FBI] agent brought yet another administrative order to Meir Ettinger and threatened him.Ten months after he was released from internment and two months after a draconian administrative order prohibiting him from contacting dozens of his friends, the Shabak agent came to Meir Ettinger and brought him yet another administrative order.This new administrative order forbids Ettinger from making contact with 96 of his friends—including a relative.“After two months of relative freedom, I received a new administrative restraining order yesterday,” Ettinger tweeted from his Twitter account. “'Ido’—a Shabak agent—also came along for the intimidation 'conversation.’ Guess what’s bothering Ido...”In a talk with Kol Hayehudi, Ettinger explained that the Shabak agent known as “Ido” initiated an “intimidation conversation” with him, during which he warned Ettinger to put a stop to the Torah lectures he gives and that he must also desist from the Chassidic farbrengens in which he participates. [Ettinger continued to explain:] “He said if I will continue to teach classes and participate in farbrengens, they will extend the ban keeping me out of Judea (Yehudah) and Shomron (Samaria).”An administrative order currently stands against Ettinger, prohibiting him from entering Judea (Yehudah) and Shomron (Samaria).

Footnote:
*Farbrengen is a Chabad/Lubavitch tradition in which like-minded people gather together to inspire each other toward spiritual advancement. (In Hebrew, a farbrengen is called a hitva’adut.)

Chassidic melodies are sung, Torah and Chassidus are discussed within in the context of personal character development. Participants are supposed to discuss and pinpoint character flaws along with suggestions for improvement.
Apparently, people improving their character and working on their middot are of great concern to Israel’s security.
ISIS enthusiasts working on their Jihad are, of course, far less threatening. ;)

Divine Rules Of A Perfect GodThis parsha speaks about the Torah Laws; Judges. Very interesting, in the news today was: "Shaked: Next project –
After three conservative judges appointed to High Court, Justice Minister Shaked clarifies next undertaking: to appoint haredi Supreme Court judge"(this is an example of seeing within the Parsha a connection to what is happening in the same week)

The Sanhedrin: All 71 Rabbis need to know all the 70 languages

The Law of the Land: In each country when they designed their Constitution, the main object was to defend society from the criminals, i.e. to protect their citizens.

The Law of the Torah: Also to protect citizens from criminals; plus to protect the criminal. Midda kneged Midda.

Exoplanet discovery: seven Earth-sized planets spotted orbiting nearby starExoplanets found orbiting Trappist-1 raise hope that the hunt for alien life beyond the solar system can start much sooner than previously thoughtA huddle of seven worlds, all close in size to Earth, and perhaps warm enough for water and the life it can sustain, has been spotted around a small, faint star in the constellation of Aquarius.The discovery, which has thrilled astronomers, has raised hopes that the hunt for alien life beyond the solar system could start much sooner than previously thought, with the next generation of telescopes that are due to switch on in the next decade.It is the first time that so many Earth-sized planets have been found in orbit around the same star, an unexpected haul that suggests the Milky Way may be teeming with worlds that, in size and firmness underfoot at least, resemble our own rocky home.The planets closely circle a dwarf star named Trappist-1, which at 39 light years away makes the system a prime candidate to search for signs of life. Only marginally larger than Jupiter, the star shines with a feeble light about 2,000 times fainter than our sun.“The star is so small and cold that the seven planets are temperate, which means that they could have some liquid water and maybe life, by extension, on the surface,” said Michaël Gillon, an astrophysicist at the University of Liège in Belgium. Details of the work are reported in Nature.A newly discovered solar system just 39 light years from earth contains planets which could contain liquid water. Trappist-1 is a system containing seven planets comparable to Earth. They orbit a small star called an utra-cool dwarf. The distance of the planets from the star means that liquid water could be found on their surfaces.To read more and see diagrams and video: Guardian/Science

(CNN)While floodwaters in the northern California city of San Jose were receding Wednesday, the mayor said they were contaminated and residents of 14,000 households ordered to evacuate should not yet return home. The residences under the mandatory evacuation are near a creek that appears to have been breached, Mayor Sam Liccardo said. Tens of thousands of more homes are under voluntary evacuation notifications. One resident slept in his car instead of going to a shelter."We woke up at 1:30 in the morning, cops knocked on the door of our apartment. My wife got the dog out of there and I parked in the parking lot. Yeah, I slept in the car," Santos Aguilar told CNN affiliate KGO.

"This is not about rain, this is about Anderson Dam," Liccardo said. "Obviously, the rain contributed to the overflowing of Anderson Dam but what we have is truly unique. We have evacuation areas that exceeded the 100-year flood zone. This is not a flood we would typically anticipate. What happened at Anderson Dam is the cause."Anderson Dam, just southeast of the city, is at 103% of capacity and the water level at the reservoir is still 2.2 feet above the top of a spillway where water flows out of the reservoir. Read more: SanJoseFlood

An “atmospheric river” continued to batter parts of Northern California on Tuesday, causing widespread flooding. The heavy rains prompted the National Weather Service to warn of a dam failure outside Carson City, Nevada, saying that it was “not a drill” and that residents should “move to higher ground now.”But less than 90 minutes after issuing the alert, the agency changed its report to say the retention basin in Dayton, Nev., had not failed. Instead, it was full and overflowing into drainage areas, the weather service said. However, Lyon County, Nev., emergency officials warned that the situation could change in the next few hours.

What are atmospheric rivers?

Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.

Infographic: The science behind atmospheric rivers (NOAA)

Although atmospheric rivers come in many shapes and sizes, those that contain the largest amounts of water vapor and the strongest winds can create extreme rainfall and floods, often by stalling over watersheds vulnerable to flooding. These events can disrupt travel, induce mudslides and cause catastrophic damage to life and property. A well-known example is the "Pineapple Express," a strong atmospheric river that is capable of bringing moisture from the tropics near Hawaii over to the U.S. West Coast.

NOAA research (e.g., NOAA Hydrometeorological Testbed and CalWater) uses satellite, radar, aircraft and other observations, as well as major numerical weather model improvements, to better understand atmospheric rivers and their importance to both weather and climate.

Scientific research yields important data that helps NOAA's National Weather Service forecasters issue warnings for potential heavy rain and flooding in areas prone to the impacts of atmospheric rivers as many as five to seven days in advance.

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Ein Od Milvado

LIVING in Eretz Israel is the equivalent of all the Mitzvot of the Torah (Sifri, Parashat Re'eh, TOSEFTA, AVODA ZARA 5:2)

Fortunate is he who merits in his life to FIX HIS RESIDENCE in Eretz HaKodesh (Zohar Hakadosh Iii 72b) and remove from your heart this false belief that a man has more blessings outside the land (Alshich Hakadosh, Ki Tavo 28:6)